PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- John Lannan is pitching like a guy with an agenda. He admits that he is, and Charlie Manuel says he can tell.

Hell might have no fury like a woman scorned, but Lannan seems to be eager to show what a scorned left-handed pitcher can bring to Philadelphia after having his chain yanked by the Washington Nationals last year.

The Phillies lost to the Rays Friday, 3-1, in 10 innings, but Lannan was sharp in his second straight start against Tampa Bay, working five shutout innings in 70 pitches. That lowered his Grapefruit League ERA to 3.21, and if there were any peripheral possibilities of him not being in the team’s rotation to open the season, those were small and have shrunk further.

“John Lannan was good -- really good today,” Charlie Manuel said. “He’s been putting the ball on both sides of the plate and doing a lot more with it now than he used to. He used to start the ball on the big part of the plate and let it run in on left-handed hitters and away from righties. He has that under control now.”

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The Phillies put out $2.5 million to sign Lannan as a free agent this winter. When you look at some of the other pitchers signed this offseason and their performances in recent years, it makes you think the Phils might have gotten a steal.

For example:

• Jason Marquis, a disabled-list machine who went 15-25 with a 5.15 ERA in the 58 starts he managed to make the last three years, got $3 million.

• Roberto Hernandez, who used to be Fausto Carmona before an arrest on identity theft showed that he was three years older than he claimed -- and who had a 5.15 ERA in 2011, his last full season -- was paid $3.25 million.

• Scott Feldman, who was 15-23, 5.15 ERA and the winner of the Jason Marquis pitch-alike contest during the past three seasons, got $6 million for 2013.

• Francisco Liriano, 15-22, 5.23 ERA the last two seasons, got a two-year, $14 million deal.

• And everyone’s favorite, Joe Blanton -- 20-21, 4.79 ERA over the last three years, most of which were spent disappointing Phillies fans -- got a two-year, $15 million deal.

John Lannan, in his worst season, did not have an ERA as high as any of those pitchers have had during stretches that “earned” them those paydays. He never has been an injury nightmare like most of them. He labored for years as a too-young staff ace-by-default for the Nationals, a team terrible enough to keep earning the right to select guys like Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper at the top of the draft.

Last year, with their stash of young arms reaching maturation, the Nationals decided to go with five of them in the rotation and use the fact that Lannan still had an option remaining -- essentially because he had been so effective, so young -- to send him to Triple-A.

In the Nationals’ defense, those five young starters were as good as advertised. However, a request by Lannan to be traded was denied, and he spent five months languishing in the minors when his track record said he should be doing otherwise.

It changed Lannan’s perspective and rattled him emotionally. When you bring up the topic of his 2012 -- 24 starts at Syracuse, followed by a six-start run in September with the Nats when Strasburg was shut down per general manager Mike Rizzo’s orders -- there’s a noticeable quiver in his voice.

“I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder,” Lannan said, “but to be told you’re not good enough, that’s kind of hard to take. It just made me work harder. Yeah, it definitely changed me.”

Even though Lannan has had a sub-4 ERA in three of his four full big-league seasons, he is the type of pitcher the new-math baseball community tends to devalue. He isn’t a big strikeout pitcher, and his WHIP (walks and hits per inning) for his career is considered middling at 1.42. However, over the last five years only 10 pitchers have goaded more double-play grounders than the 98 he’s gotten -- and that’s even with his five-month banishment last season. He also does a good job of holding runners at first base -- and, not coincidentally, in his only subpar season in 2010 that stat took an odd downward turn.

“I don’t care about stats,” Lannan said. “If I have a high WHIP, I let guys on, but I try to not let them score.

“If I feel good, make good pitches and go six or more innings, then I feel I get my job done ... People can focus on whatever they want, but I don’t focus on that stuff. If you do it can lead down a slippery slope. It’s just not the way you’re supposed to think.”

Perhaps he doesn’t get the job done the way a Strasburg or Cole Hamels does. But the Phillies aren’t asking Lannan to be those guys. They want him to be himself -- and that has been better than a lot of pitchers, including those listed above who are receiving far fatter paychecks.

NOTES: The Phillies had just four hits Friday, but two of them came on bunt attempts by Ben Revere and Kevin Frandsen. Manuel liked seeing Revere, who is hitting .340 this spring, show what he can do with his legs. “Ben, I like everything I see in him,” Manuel said ... Jeremy Horst and Antonio Bastardo each pitched a scoreless inning. Justin DeFratus, battling for the final opening in the bullpen, gave up a leadoff homer to Shelley Duncan to lead off his second inning of work ... Phils visit Tampa again Saturday to face the Yankees. The game starts at 12:05 because of a Kenny Chesney concert that takes place that evening at Raymond James Stadium across the street from Steinbrenner Field. The Phils will use their bullpen the entire game, as Cole Hamels will pitch in a minor-league game.